Project Blitz Archives - American Atheists

American Atheists: Christian Nationalist David Barton “One of the Greatest Threats to Religious Freedom”

American Atheists — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 16:12:07 +0000

Cranford, NJ—Today, American Atheists responded to comments by Christian nationalist and serial falsifier David Barton. “I got challenged to a debate by the American Atheists Association [sic],” David Barton claimed in a video on Monday. “I said, ‘Here’s the ground rules. I get to speak 97% of the time. They get to speak 3% of the time.’ They said, ‘That’s not a debate!’ I said, ‘Look at polling. Right now, 3% of the nation does not believe in God. 97% does.’” “David Barton is as loose with his statistics as he is with the misattributed and erroneous ‘facts’ he peppers his pseudo-scholarship with. Three years ago, he claimed the percentage was 92%,” said Nick Fish, President of American Atheists. “There are as many non-religious Americans as there are evangelicals and Catholics, and our numbers are only growing. With 35% of Americans 13-18 identifying as nonreligious, Generation Z is the most atheistic generation ever.” “No matter what numbers David Barton wants to pull out of thin air, he represents the fringe of Christian nationalism. Even Christian conservatives have denounced him as a crank writer. No wonder his Christian publisher pulled his book for factual inaccuracies,” added Fish. “As we said the last time Barton made this claim, we have no record of the debate he’s talking about.” “Let’s not get distracted by Barton’s fuzzy numbers,” said Alison Gill, American Atheists’ Vice President for Legal and Policy. “Barton’s influence threatens the religious equality of all Americans. As one of the shadowy figures leading the Christian nationalist campaign Project Blitz, he is seeking to inject religion into public schools, undermine LGBTQ protections, and deny women the right to control their bodies.” In order to defeat Barton and Project Blitz, American Atheists is leading the BlitzWatch coalition, which is composed of more than 10 national civil rights and religious freedom organizations committed to protecting equality for all Americans. The BlitzWatch campaign monitors, tracks, and defeats attempts by Christian nationalists to implement Barton’s distorted view of religious freedom. Image by Gage Skidmore under CC BY-SA 2.0.

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Atheists: “In God We Trust” School Displays Misinform and Harm Children

American Atheists — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 15:05:36 +0000

Frankfort, KY—Today, American Atheists and Kentucky atheist groups denounced the state’s new “In God We Trust” school display requirement as harmful to children. With 42% of 13 – 18 years olds identifying as non-Christian, “In God We Trust” displays stigmatize nearly half of all students. “When non-Christian students are confronted with this divisive motto in every classroom, every day, they are left with the unmistakable impression that they aren’t fully American,” said Nick Fish, President of American Atheists. “The public education system should be focused on one thing: Educating young people. These political fights have no place in our nation’s schools.” On March 25, 2019, Governor Matt Bevin signed the “In God We Trust” bill into law. Representative Brandon Reed, the bill’s sponsor, said that we need God now more than ever and that “In God We Trust” is an essential part of what it means to be an American. “As a Kentucky parent, I owe it to my three children to protect them from this sort of forced religious indoctrination,” said Johnny Pike, American Atheists’ Kentucky State Director and a U.S. Army veteran. “It attacks my family’s patriotism. Even if we do not ‘trust in God,’ we are just as American as anyone else.” “‘In God We Trust’ is a divisive, exclusionary motto that has nothing to do with our nation’s founding. It only became the official motto in 1956 after it replaced the unifying E Pluribus Unum (Out of many, one), which was first proposed by Thomas Jefferson,” added Fish. “Kentucky’s students deserve all the facts.” To inform Kentucky parents, teachers, and children about the true origins of our national motto, American Atheists launched the NationalMotto.org website and created its own historically accurate “In God We Trust” posters that are available free-of-charge. “Not just Kentuckians, but all Americans deserve to know that ‘In God We Trust’ bills throughout the country are all part of Project Blitz, a Christian nationalist campaign to attack civil rights,” said Alison Gill, American Atheists’ Vice President for Legal and Policy. “These bills are the first step in an escalating campaign to attack religious equality, LGBTQ rights, and access to reproductive healthcare.” To learn more about Project Blitz, visit BlitzWatch.org.

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State Lawmakers Brief Members of Congress on Religious Extremist “Project Blitz” Campaign

American Atheists — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 21:30:52 +0000

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA), state lawmakers, and American Atheists briefed members of Congress about Project Blitz, a secretive and widespread Christian nationalist campaign to undermine LGBTQ equality, limit access to reproductive healthcare, and threaten religious equality under the law. Project Blitz’s strategy is two-fold: First, overwhelm state lawmakers and advocates with as many bills as possible—hence the name “Project Blitz”—and second, push seemingly innocuous “Christian heritage” bills in states in order to build momentum and pass anti-LGBTQ, anti-religious equality, and anti-reproductive health care legislation. “Very few Americans have ever heard of Project Blitz, yet hundreds of elected officials are actively supporting the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation (CPCF), which runs this extremist campaign,” explained American Atheists’ Vice President for Legal and Policy Alison Gill (left). “The CPCF pushes legislators to introduce a range of harmful bills through its network of state prayer caucuses.” Yet state legislators across the country are building opposition to Project Blitz. In Minnesota, State Senator John Marty (center left) successfully defused conservative media attacks on him after he opposed an “In God We Trust” school display bill, citing his own faith and his commitment to religious equality. In Arizona, State Senator Juan Mendez (center right) exposed how Arizona’s “In God We Trust” license plate law had quietly generated over $1 million for the anti-LGBTQ hate group Alliance Defending Freedomfrom 2012 to 2018. In Washington DC, Councilmember David Grosso introduced a resolution for Religious Freedom Day as a model for promoting the historically accurate value of religious freedom—in stark contrast to Project Blitz’s distorted vision. “Project Blitz is working behind the scenes in state legislatures, and the reach of this effort is national,” said Huffman, co-founder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus. “Let’s be very clear. This is not about protecting religious freedom or religious liberty. It’s about imposing some people’s religious views on everyone else. It’s about changing this pluralistic secular democracy of ours into a theocracy, into the kind of country that’s depicted in shows like The Handmaid’s Tale.” “Project Blitz is not going away, but since they have made their intent clear, we can work to oppose this harmful and deceptive campaign,” said Nick Fish (right), President of American Atheists. “Starting now, state and federal legislators, as well as advocates for equality, need to coordinate their efforts to stop Project Blitz and its attacks on women, LGBTQ Americans, atheists, and religious minorities.” To watch the full Hill briefing, click here.

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Ask your Representatives to Oppose Christian Nationalist State Bills!

American Atheists — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 17:47:47 +0000

At this very moment, Christian nationalists are charging forward with Project Blitz, a secretive state legislative campaign with the sole intent of dismantling our rights. This insidious campaign is simple but effective: introduce in as many states as possible radical bills that undermine religious equality, attack LGBTQ discrimination protections, and reduce access to reproductive health care. We need your help to stop this legislative assault on our freedoms! Inform your state representatives and expose this deceptive campaign. Project Blitz succeeds in silence, but with your help, we can drag it into the light. Please take action by emailing your elected state representatives now! Project Blitz has established “prayer caucuses” in at least 33 state legislatures. They seek to mislead lawmakers who would oppose the broader goals of Project Blitz. But together we can defeat this deception by raising awareness about this campaign. In 2018, the Project Blitz campaign introduced more than 75 state bills. Unfortunately, ten of these bills passed in 2018, primarily “In God We Trust” school display laws, as well as bills that allow religious discrimination in foster care and adoption. Already in 2019, there have been about 40 state bills introduced similar to those pushed by Project Blitz. Fortunately, we are working in coalition to oppose Project Blitz. See the www.BlitzWatch.org website for materials and resources relating to this campaign. And please help us inform your state representatives about these resources by emailing them now!

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Atheists Donate National Motto Displays to Arkansas Schools

American Atheists — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 15:17:03 +0000

Bentonville, AR—In response to a 2017 law that requires Arkansas school districts to post in all classrooms donated signs or displays that show the national motto, American Atheists Monday announced a donation of nearly 1,000 posters to the Bentonville School District. The posters donated by American Atheists include both the current national motto, “In God We Trust,” and the original de facto motto of the United States, “E Pluribus Unum,” accompanied by a brief explanation of the changes made to the national motto in 1956. The displays also include a representation of the American flag, the Arkansas state flag, and a link to an instructional webpage that provides additional historical context and information about the national motto: www.atheists.org/motto “We’re pleased to donate these displays that present the full truth and historical context of our national motto,” said Nick Fish, American Atheists’ national program director. “Proponents of Act 911, including Bentonville’s State Representative Jim Dotson, claim that mandating these displays is about acknowledging our nation’s ‘history and heritage’ in classrooms. But we think students deserve all the facts, not just a poster of an exclusionary and divisive motto devoid of any additional context or information.” Fish, joined by representatives of the local atheist community, attended the August 20 Bentonville School Board meeting to present the donation. American Atheists has delivered a letter to the district requesting logistical information to complete the donation. “It’s interesting to note the displays donated by Rep. Dotson don’t actually conform to the law he himself introduced. We look forward to seeing our displays, which do conform to the law, hanging in every classroom in Bentonville,” added Fish. “As Dotson pointed out at the February 19 meeting he attended to make his donation, the school district is required under the law to display the posters that have been donated.” In 2018, more than 70 bills, many of them similar to Act 911, were introduced nationwide as part of “Project Blitz,” a nationwide campaign by Christian Nationalist groups to reshape state and federal laws by using a distorted interpretation of “religious freedom.” The proponents of these bills hope to roll back civil rights protections and inject the false idea that America was founded as a Christian nation into our public schools. “This concerted effort to use religion as a weapon against atheists, religious minorities, LGBTQ people, and women is dangerous and un-American,” said Alison Gill, legal and policy director of American Atheists. “This legislation being pushed by Christian Nationalists undermines religious freedom by instilling into the law only one religious viewpoint, theirs, while attacking the separation of religion and government which is the bedrock of our tradition of religious liberty. They admit to starting with ‘low hanging fruit’ like these national motto displays and building momentum to use religion as an excuse to allow discrimination in public accommodations, adoption services, and medical care. We must protect religious liberty from these extremists.” Fish’s Prepared Remarks to the Bentonville School Board Letter Sent to the Bentonville School Board

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